Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad
by Treyven 'The Raven' Corsey
Summary: Ginny, though married to Harry Potter for almost 60 years, realizes that he doesn't love her and never has. Song Fic to Meatloaf's classic hit. My first Harry Potter Fanfic :)


I own nothing.

o0o

The old man stared out the window into the dark, watching as the heavy snow continued on as it had for the last several hours. For a moment, he allowed the widow to act as a mirror, displaying his reflection along with the room behind him. He looked at the image of the beautiful woman lying in the bed, sobbing, and he sighed heavily. This night, along with his actions and her words, had brought up memories within him long thought buried. He allowed his gaze to turn to himself and he gave a rueful chuckle.

"What's so funny?" he heard. He turned around to face her and saw that she had sat up and was watching him. She had pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts and, though her eyes were puffy and swollen, she had stopped crying.

"I was just thinking," he said, as he looked down at himself, "that I've finally turned into Dumbledore."

She giggled in spite of herself. Maybe that was why she had stayed with him through all these years, she thought. No matter how many times he had hurt her or made her cry, he could always make her laugh.

"Harry Potter, you may look like Dumbledore, but you'll never be as manipulative as that old bastard was," she said. "And besides, even he didn't have as many scars as you do."

With a gleam in his eye that would have made her older twin brothers proud he said, "Oh? Spent a lot of time with him dressed like this, did you?"

She giggled again at the absudity of it and said, "You shit," and threw a pillow at him.

He caught the pillow and sat down on the bed. "Do you really want me to leave? It's aweful cold outside, you know."

"I'm surprised you want to stay, seeing how I've treated you for the last few years."

He sighed again and looked at his lap. "Oh Ginny, haven't I been good to you? Haven't I always given you what you wanted?"

"No, goddamn it, and you know it," she hissed.

"I can't give you that," he said, his voice cracking. "I've never had it to give to you."

She looked at him closely, for a good long while as comprehension finally dawned on her. Through many years of marriage, she never saw it. She was happy, so she thought he was too. And, to be honest, he probably was. She had given him the only thing he ever really wanted, which was children and a family. In return, he showered her with gifts: money, jewelry, homes on various continents. He never denied her anything she asked for. But he didn't love her, and he never had. He cared for her deeply, this she knew, but he didn't _love_ her. And now at last, she understood why.

"Who was she?"

He looked to her and the pain and dispair in his eyes nearly killed her.

"Ginny, please...you don't want to know," he replied softly, and again looked at his lap.

At this, the famous Weasley anger finally made it's face known. "Harry Potter you answer me right now! I've been married to you for 57 years and by God I have a right to know! I've _earned_ it!"

Still not looking at her he said, "Yes, I guess you have."

"It was Hermione, wasn't it? Was it after we got married? Was it while Ron was still alive? Ohhh, I'm gonna KILL that bitch!"

"No. Ginny, it wasn't Hermione."

"Look at me and tell me you never slept with her!" she said, the anger refusing to leave.

"Fine, I won't tell you that I slept with her."

"Damn you Potter!" and she slapped him, hard.

Harry touched his hand to his cheek. "I guess I deserved that. But the fact is, it wasn't Hermione," he replied.

She looked at him for a good long while and said, "Harry, enough with the secrets. They've been going on long enough. Now tell me, straight up, no lies, no half-truths, just a straight honest answer. Did you have an affair with Hermione?"

"...Yes." he quietly replied. "But before you get angry at either me or her, you need to understand that it happened before either you and I, or her and Ron were married."

It was then that she knew the truth, to that mystery at least. "It was during the hunt, wasn't it? How did you keep Ron from finding out, or did he know?"

Harry sighed yet again. "Ginny, there's something you don't know about that happened on that trip. Something that Hermione and I agreed to never tell anyone." At this, he stopped, thinking about how to tell her what had happened, all those years ago. About the two things that he and Hermione had decided to keep secret from everyone.

Ginny, though, wanted answers, and she wanted them now. "What, that you spent the entire trip shagging her senseless?"

"Damnit Ginny, it wasn't bloody like that!" he cried. "Ron left us! He couldn't take the pressure or the cold or the constant near-starvation conditions we were living in and he abandoned us! I was as bloody mad as I've ever been and Hermione was devestated! We turned to each other for comfort and one thing led to another. We didn't plan for it to happen, but it did. It might have been the only thing that kept us going. After Voldemort was dead, she and I had a talk and agreed to leave it in the past. She knew I loved her and I knew that she loved me, but we weren't _in love_ with each other. We were two friends who turned to each other for comfort and warmth under extremely terrible circumstances. We never spoke of it and it never happened again."

Ginny was incredulous. "Ron LEFT you two? I can't believe it! He lied us all those years! Why didn't you tell me?"

Harry said softly, "It wouldn't have served any purpose to tell of Ron's...mistake. And it would have devestated your mum."

Ginny looked pensive for a few moments and then said, "You're right, it would have killed her." She sat quietly for a few moments before she asked, "So if it wasn't Hermione, then who was it?"

"Do you really want to know?" he asked her. She replied in a near whiper, "Yes."

"Pansy."

Ginny was floored. Of all the women they knew, the ones that they had gone to school with and had met over the years of their long marriage, this was the one name she would NEVER have suspected.

"YOU GOT TO BE SHITTING ME! PANSY FUCKING PARKINSON?"

Tears came to Harry's eyes as he thought back to that summer after the death of Voldemort, all those years ago. "I'll tell you how it happened. I guess you deserve that much."

He told Ginny about the trip to the south of France. Hermione had gone back to Australia to find her parents, taking Ron with her, (the entire trip was funded by Harry, but Ron never found that out, the jealous git). Harry, desperate to get away from Hogwarts, the public and the press, left Brittain to find some peace. He arrived in the south of France and had met up with Pansy one day while out shopping. They started talking and decided to go for coffee. She apologized for her actions the night of the Battle of Hogwarts and he forgave her. In truth, he understood. She was just a scared girl in over her head.

From an afternoon having coffee came dinner, then cocktails. They ended up in his hotel room and didn't leave the bed for three days. For the next four months, they were inseperable and Harry fell deeply in love with the fomer Slytheran. They were deleriously happy together and Harry sureptiously purchased an engagement ring. With his voice breaking and tears rolling down his cheeks, he related to his wife what had happened that night.

Harry rolled over, breathing hard. Making love to Pansy was more than incredible, it was rapturous. He had heard the old joke about appeasing a lover by telling her that "every time is like the first time", but Harry could honestly say it was true. He closed his eyes, remembering their coupling and felt Pansy sit up in the bed, then the flick of the lighter as she lit her cigarette.

"God, Harry, that was wonderful," she said in her throaty voice. A voice that Harry had come to simply adore.

"I agree." he said, a goofy smile on his face. He looked up at her and said, "It was fantastic, like always. I love you, Pansy."

She smiled brightly at him and leaned down and kissed him. "I know you do." she said with a grin. Just like she always answered when he said it.

Harry sat up in bed and reached into the nightstand, pulling out a small box. He opened it up to reveal a beautiful engagement ring. Turning to face her, he held the box to her and said, "Pansy, these last few months have been the best of my life. I've grown to love you so very much. Would you give me the honor of being my wife?"

Pansy's jaw dropped. She looked at the ring and started shaking her head. "No, Harry," she said. "No, I don't want to marry you."

Harry was shocked. Barely able to speak, he said, "But, Pansy, why? Don't you know how much I love you?"

She slowly reached out with her hand and placed it on his arm. Tears came to her eyes and she said, "I know you do, Harry, I know you do."

He then realized, with dread, what he should have seen from the beginning. "You don't love me, do you?" She closed her eyes, the tears rolling down her face and she shook her head. "No."

She stood up and walked over to the dresser. She slowly turned around and faced him, her body shaking with silent sobs as the tears continued unabated. Though Harry was breaking inside, he could not help but be captivated by the sight of her naked beauty, unadorned but for the diamond and silver necklace and matching he had bought her last week. He briefly remembered their discussion at the jewelry store that afternoon.

"Harry, this is the one I want."

Harry examined the necklace and nodded his head. It was a beautiful peace of work and Pansy seemed to love it. He enquired about the price and nearly baulked.

"Good Lord, woman! This thing costs a fortue!" he cried. She looked at him with her gorgeous doe-eyes and said, "Please Harry? Please buy it for me?"

Harry groaned. "Pansy, I've already spent enough on you this month to buy a battle ship!"

Pansy got a hard look in her eye and, obviously not caring who heard, said, "And you've spent enough _inside me_ this month to float one!"* Ten minutes later they walked out of the jewelry store, Pansy wearing the necklace and some matching earrings she hadn't even seen yet.

Harry came back to the present to realize that Pansy was dressed and packing to leave. Harry fell to his knees, sobbing. He begged, he pleaded, "Please don't leave me! I love you so much, don't leave!"

Pansy finished her packing and squatted down beside him. With tears in her eyes, she took his face in her hands and pulled him in and kissed him. She whispered, "Harry, I want you. I need you. But there aint no way I'm ever gonna love you." With that, she stood up, picked up her bag and left.

Ginny Potter had tears in her eyes, brought on by her husbands pain. He sat on the bed next to her, crying into his beard and staring into the distant past. She stood up and, still naked, walked over and sat on her husband's knee. She lifted his chin with her finger and wiped his tears away with her thumbs. She looked him in the eye and said, "I understand how you feel now. I just wish you had told me a long time ago."

In a whisper, Harry replied, "I'm sorry, Ginny. Do you still want me to leave?"

With a smile on her face, she shook her head and said, "Don't be sad, Harry. You know I've always loved you and would never let you go. I know you don't feel the same for me, but, as she told you all those years ago, two out of three ain't bad."

The End

*This is a paraphrase of an actual conversation between Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales, (later Edward VII) and his mistress, Lily Langtree.


End file.
